28012022 first india ahmedabad

CM UNFURLS NATIONAL FLAG
IN VERAVAL AT STATE EVENT
Inspects parade
of security forces,
felicitates unique
achievers
First India Bureau
Veraval: After unfurl-
ing the Tricolour amid
a shower of flowers
from an Air Force heli-
copter and saluting it,
Chief Minister Bhupen-
dra Patel on Wednesday
extended his wishes on
the occasion of the na-
tion’s 73rd Republic
Day to the citizens of
Gujarat from the Sadb-
havna Ground of Ver-
aval’s Prabhas Patan.
Patel then inspected
various platoons of secu-
rity forces in an open
jeep, accompanied by
Chief Secretary Pankaj
KumarandDirectorGen-
eralof PoliceAshishBha-
tia.Theparadewasledby
Assistant Superinten-
dent of Police Abhishek
Gupta, with Assistant
Commissioner of Police
Sagar Sabda as second
parade commander.
The Gujarat Jail Po-
lice Platoon was ranked
first, followed by the
Gujarat Marine Com-
mando Platoon and the
Junagadh Women’s Po-
lice Platoon in second
and third position, re-
spectively
. They, as well
as the platoon com-
mander of the Rapid
Action Force in the
paramilitary category,
were honoured with a
trophy
.
The CM also felici-
tated Surat’s “Rubber
Girl”, one of this year’s
Pradhan Mantri Bal
Puraskar Award Win-
ners for mastering yoga
despite her physical dis-
ability
. Turn to P6
REPUBLIC DAY
Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel salutes the Tricolor after unfurling it at
an event to mark India’s 73rd Republic Day in Veraval on Wednesday.
DELIGHTEDTATASBRING
HOME
Air India was officially handed over to the Tata
Group on Thursday shortly after Tata Sons
chairman N Chandrasekaran called on PM Modi
After a competitive bidding process, the
government had on October 8 last year sold
Air India to Talace Private Limited for `18,000 crore
1 2
Ex-VP Ansari,US senators wary
of human rights scene in India
Washington: Former
vice-president Hamid
Ansari and four US law-
makers have expressed
concern over the cur-
rent human rights situ-
ation in India. They
were speaking at a vir-
tual panel discussion
organised by the Indian
American Muslim
Council on Wednesday
.
“As the Indian gov-
ernment continues to
target the practices of
minority faiths, it cre-
ates an atmosphere
where discrimination
and violence can take
root,” said Democratic
Senator Ed Markey
.
Former vice presi-
dent Ansari also ex-
pressed his concern.
“In recent years, we
have experienced the
emergence of trends
and practises that dis-
pute the well estab-
lished principle of civic
nationalism, and inter-
poses a new and imagi-
nary practice of cultur-
al nationalism,” Ansari
said, adding that “al-
most 20 per cent of our
people belong to reli-
gious minorities”.
Union Minority Af-
fairs Minister Mukhtar
Abbas Naqvi hit out at
Ansari saying the event
attended by Ansari on
the Republic Day was
organised by a group
that had a “link with
SIMI and ISI.
AHMEDABAD l FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2022 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/79050 l Vol 3 l Issue No. 63
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, LUCKNOW & NEW DELHI www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
The Arunachal youth who was captured by China’s People’s Liberation Army
(PLA) when he strayed across the border has returned. Union minister and
BJP Arunachal Pradesh leader Kiren Rijiju announced that Miram Taron had
been handed over to the Indian Army. Taron was handed over at the Wacha-
Damai interaction point in the Kibithu sector around 10.30 am.
Sensex had plunged more than 1,000 points in intra-day trading. The losses in
equity markets continued on Thursday as Sensex lost 581 points to finish trading
at 57,276. The broader 50-share NSE Nifty closed at 17,110, down 167 points
(0.97%) from the previous closing mark. Amid losses in stock markets in various
countries, Sensex continues to nosedive since last several days. More on P7
CHINESE ARMY
RETURNED MISSING
ARUNACHAL YOUTH:
KIREN RIJIJU
FROM DALAL
STREET: SENSEX
FALLS 581 POINTS,
NIFTY AT 17,110
Covishield, Covaxin
to be available now
in hospitals, clinics
New Delhi: Covishield
and Covaxin have been
cleared by India’s
drugs regulator for
sale in the market,
sources have said
However, this doesn’t
mean the two COVID-19
vaccines will be availa-
bleatshopssoonthough
people would be able to
buy them from hospi-
tals and clinics, sources
have said. Key details
are awaited from the
government, they said.
For emergency use,
safety data has to be
given the Drugs Con-
troller General of India,
or DCGI, within 15 days
but for market approval
the data has to be given
to the regulator within
six months.
The market sale of
the two vaccines was
approved under the
New Drugs and Clinical
Trials Rules, 2019 after
nod by expert commit-
tee on January 19.
CORONA
CATASTROPHE
GUJARAT
12,911
NEW
CASES
4,405
NEW CASES
IN A’BAD
22
NEW DEATHS
FOREIGN MINISTER
S JAISHANKAR
TESTS COVID +VE
New Delhi: Union
External Affairs Minister
S Jaishankar Thursday
said he
has tested
positive
for Cov-
id-19 and
urged all those who have
come in recent contact
with him to take suitable
precautions. Earlier in
the day, Jaishankar had
taken part in a virtual
event — The French
Presidency: EU-India
Partnership in the Indo
Pacific — along with
French Foreign Minister
Jean-Yves Le Drian.
AMIT SHAH’S DOOR-TO-DOOR CAMPAIGN IN KRISHNA BHOOMI
BJP WORKS FOR THE ENTIRE
SOCIETY: SHAH IN MATHURA
Aditi Nagar
Mathura: Union Home
Minister Amit Shah hit
out at the Samajwadi
Party (SP) and the Ba-
hujan Samaj Party
(BSP)inUttarPradesh’s
Mathura during a door-
to-door poll campaign
on Thursday
.
Shah claimed that their
government only
worked for caste, add-
ing that only the BJP
has always worked for
the overall development
of society
.
Addressing a gather-
ing in Mathura, Amit
Shah said, “It is only
after Narendra Modi be-
came the PM and Yogi
Adityanath became the
Chief Minister (of UP)
that we followed ‘sabka
saath, sabka viswas,
sabka vikas’.”
Mohd Fahad
New Delhi: Tata group
has officially taken over
Air India from the gov-
ernment on Thursday.
“We are totally delight-
ed to have Air India
back at the Tata group
and are committed to
making this a world-
class airline,” Tata Sons
Chairman N Chan-
drasekaran said. Chan-
drasekaran also met
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi ahead of the
official handover.
As a part of the deal,
the Tata group will also
be handed over Air India
Express and a 50 per cent
stakeingroundhandling
arm Air India SATS.
Tatas had set up Tata
Airlines in 1932, which
was in 1946 renamed as
Air India. The govern-
ment had taken control
of theairlinein1953,but
JRD Tata continued to
be its chairman till 1977.
Handover will be home-
coming of Air India to
Tatas after 69 years.
Amritsar/Jalandhar:
Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi said the Con-
gress will soon an-
nounce a Chief Minis-
ter candidate in Punjab
and the decision will be
taken by workers.
With a raging Navjot
Sidhu versus Charanjit
Singh Channi rivalry
threatening to hurt the
Congress campaign for
next month’s Punjab
election, Rahul in Ja-
landhar on his daylong
visit to Punjab stressed
that “two people can’t
lead, only one can”.
Gandhi made the
comments with both
Punjab Congress chief
Navjot Sidhu and Chief
Minister Charanjit
Channi on stage; their
swipes at each other
have been getting loud-
er and more embarrass-
ing for the party by the
day
. Punjab, said Rahul,
needs now is peace and
brotherhood.
...slams SP, BSP
over casteist,
dynastic traits
Beginning visit from Golden Temple and Jallianwala Bagh
Rahul in Punjab raises poll pitch, slams BJP over farm laws
Union Home Minister Amit Shah being greeted during door-to-
door campaign in Mathura on Thursday.
Chairman of Tata Sons N Chandrasekaran called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the
official handover of Air India to Tata Group in New Delhi on Thursday.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit
Singh Channi and party State chief Navjot Singh Sidhu eats langar
after offering prayers at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Thursday.
A beneficiary receives a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine during a
jab drive with the help of Army amid snowfall in Baramulla.
1 Tata’s winning bid
for Air India was
`18,000 crore, higher
by `2,900 from the bid
made by the other
conglomerate
2 Tata has paid
`2,700 crore in
cash and taken over
debt of `15,300 crore
3 On August 31,
2021, Air India
had a total debt of
`61,562 crore. Of
this, `46,262 crore is
being transferred to a
special purpose vehicle,
or SPV. The balance
debt has been cleared
by Tata
4 Of the total
government debt
in the SPV, `14,718
crore is being serviced
with Air India’s
non-core assets
including buildings
and land
5 Tata will not keep
non-core assets
such as Vasant Vihar
housing colony and Air
India building in Delhi,
and another Air India
building in Mumbai’s
Nariman Point
‘STRATEGIC DISINVESTMENT
COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY’
The strategic disinvestment transaction of Air India
successfully concluded on Thursday with transfer
of 100% shares of Air India to M/s Talace Pvt Ltd along
with management control. A new Board, led by the
Strategic Partner, takes charge of Air India, said Tuhin
Kanta Pandey, Secretary, Department of Investment
and Public Asset Management. ‘’Now, the new owners
(of the airline) are Talace,’’ Pandey noted. The govern-
ment has notified the agreement between Air India and
special purpose vehicle AIAHL for the transfer
of non-core assets, ahead of the national airline’s
takeover by the Tata Group.
The entire nation’s
eyes are on us,
waiting to see what
we will achieve to-
gether. To build the
airline our country
needs, we need to
look to the future
N Chandrasekaran,
Tata Sons Chairman
YOU
READ IT
FIRST
IN FIRST
INDIA
OCTOBER
09, 2021
KEY POINTS
5
or SPV. The balance
or SPV. The balance Nariman Point
Nariman Point
IN FIRST
OCTOBER
First India Bureau
Udaipur: In a show of
unity ahead of bypolls
on Rajasthan’s two as-
sembly seats, Chief
Minister Ashok Gehlot,
his former
deputy
Sachin Pilot, AICC Gen-
eral Secretary Incharge
Ajay Maken and PCC
Chief Govind Singh Do-
tasra travelled together
and addressed rallies in
poll-bound Vallabhna-
gar and Dhariawad con-
stituencies in a helicop-
ter for the campaign.
Bypolls are to be held
onUdaipur’sVallabhna-
gar and Pratapgarh’s
Dhariawad seats for
which the party candi-
dates filed nomination
on Friday
.
They
reached
Vallabhnagar and ad-
dressed a meeting in
support of party candi-
date Preeti Shaktawat,
Turn to P6
Raj Congress leaders put up a show
of unity before Assembly bypolls
RAHUL HANDS OVER GUJARAT
TO AN AGGRESSIVE AND ‘YOUNG
TURK’ RAGHU SHARMA
Anita Hada
Jaipur: After a five
month long vacancy
of Gujarat Congress
Incharge at AICC, which
was created after the de-
mise of a Rahul Gandhi
confidante’ Rajiv Satav,
finally a ‘decisive’ Rahul
Gandhi, after a care-
ful consideration, has
shouldered the respon-
sibility to an old 24/7
Congress worker and
presently Health Minister
of Rajasthan, Dr Raghu
Sharma. Raghu enjoys
the goodwill and reputa-
tion of an aggressive and
young turk leader, who
has old links with the
Gandhi family. Raghu
also doesn’t mince words
while saying that his first
loyalty will always be
with the Gandhis. Only
the last week, Turn to P6
CM Ashok Gehlot, Ajay Maken, Sachin Pilot & GS Dotasra flew together in a chopper to Vallabhnagar.
IN AHMEDABAD TODAY
CRUCIAL READ
INDIAN, CHINESE PATROLS FACE-OFF IN
TAWANG BEFORE CORPS COMMANDER TALKS
JOURNALISTS MARIA RESSA AND DMITRY
MURATOV WIN 2021 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
Tawang: Ahead of the next round of Corps Commander
level talks between India and China, which are supposed
to take place in eastern Ladakh, there was a minor
altercation between Indian and Chinese troops in the
eastern sector of the India-China boundary. Sources
mentioned that patrol parties of both the countries came
face-to-face in Arunachal Pradesh, which led to some
jostling before they disengaged. Sources in the defence
establishment said the Chinese had come in “sizeable”
strength near Yangtse in the Tawang sector.
Manila: Journalists Maria Ressa of the Philippines and
Dmitry Muratov of Russia won the 2021 Nobel Peace
Prize on Friday for their fight for freedom of expres-
sion in countries where reporters have faced persistent
attacks, harassment and even murder. “Free, independ-
ent and fact-based journalism serves to protect against
abuse of power, lies and war propaganda,” said Berit
Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Commit-
tee, explaining why the prize went to two journalists.
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JAIPUR l SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2021 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. RAJENG/2019/77764 l Vol 3 l Issue No. 124
CORONA CATASTROPHE
RAJASTHAN
INDIA
21,257
new cases
271
new fatalities
05
new cases
00
new fatalities
Aryan Khan, son of movie star Shah Rukh Khan, has been denied bail in the Mumbai
drugs-on-cruise case and will be spending the weekend in prison. He was sent to
judicial custody by the Magistrate’s court yesterday. Aryan Khan was supplied drugs
by one of the other men arrested in the cruise ship drug bust, the anti-drugs agency
said in court yesterday as it argued against the 23-year-old being given bail.
Sensex closed the session at 60,059 levels, up 381 points, while the Nifty50
ended at 17,895 levels, up 105 points. The RBI’s seemingly dovish policy,
with repo and reverse repo rates unchanged at 4 per cent and 3.35 per cent,
respectively, bolstered bull sentiment on Dalal Street on Friday. The central bank
also retained the GDP growth forecast at 9.5 per cent for the on-going fiscal year.
ARYAN KHAN
DENIED BAIL BY
COURT IN DRUGS
ON CRUISE CASE
RBI’S DOVISH
POLICY GIVES
BSE SENSEX
381-POINT BOOST
AS GOVT SAYS TATA TO AIR INDIA
TATA’S PRODIGAL
SON RETURNS!
What’s done not enough:
SC on Lakhimpur violence
Your seriousness is only in words and not in actions: CJI
New Delhi: The Su-
preme Court on Friday
said it was “not satis-
fied” with the steps tak-
en by the Uttar Pradesh
government in the bru-
tal killing of eight peo-
ple in the Lakhimpur
Kheri violence, and
pulled up the state po-
lice asking whether
sending summons and
telling “please come”
was the way the accused
are treated in other
murder cases.
“The proof of the
pudding is in the eating,
a bench headed by
Chief Justice N V Ra-
mana told the UP gov-
ernment, and sharply
questioned why Union
Minister of State for
Home Ajay Mishra’s
son Ashish Mishra, an
accused in the case, has
not been arrested yet.
As the court mulled
transferring the probe
into the violence to an-
other agency, it also
said any investigations
by the CBI “may not be
the solution” because
of the persons who have
been named in the FIR.
Advocate Harish Salve,
while representing UP
government, conceded
that not enough has
been done by the au-
thorities.
1
Air India has been
sold to Tata Sons for
`18,000 crore as the
conglomerate outbid the
consortium led by
SpiceJet’s chief Ajay Singh
as the winning bidder for
the debt-laden state-run
airline by `2,900 crore.
2
TAir India’s total
debt stands at over
`60,000 crore and the
government loses nearly
`20 crore every day.
3
Tata Sons will pay
`2,700 crore in cash
to the government and
take over the remaining
debt of `15,300 crore.
After the deal, the
government will take on
debt worth `46,262 crore
and non-core assets
including land and
building worth `14,718.
All of it will be transferred
to the government’s
holding company AIAHL.
4
There will be no
retrenchment in the
first year and Air India
Afghan mosque blast
kills at least 25 people,
challenges Taliban govt
Kabul: A blast went off
Friday at a mosque
packed with Shiite Mus-
lim worshippers in
northern Afghanistan,
killing at least 25 and
wounding dozens in the
latest security
chal-
lenge to the Taliban as
they transition from in-
surgency to govern-
ance.
The explosion tore
through a mosque in
the city of Kunduz dur-
ing noon prayers, the
highlight of the Muslim
religious week. It blew
out windows, charred
the ceiling and scat-
tered debris and twisted
metal across the floor.
Rescuers carried one
body out on a stretcher
and another in a blan-
ket. Blood stains cov-
ered the front steps.
There was no imme-
diate claim of responsi-
bility for what Kunduz
police said may have
been a suicide attack.
But militants from a lo-
cal Islamic State affili-
ate have a long history
of attacking Afghani-
stan’s ethnic and reli-
gious minorities.
PM Modi has done
what Cong couldn’t
do in 70 years: Shah
If India strides,
the world will
succeed: Birla
Rome:
Lok Sabha
Speaker Om Birla, ad-
dressed the delegates
duringtheSecondWork-
ing Session of the G20
Parliamentary Speak-
ers’ Summit (P20), on
the theme “Rebooting
Economic Growth in
terms of Social and En-
vironmental Sustaina-
bility’’ held in Rome on
Friday
.Onthwoccasion,
Birla observed that if
India progresses, the
world succeeds.
`18,000 cr bid
Tata Sons wins
control of airlines
once again with
New Delhi: Tata Sons chairman emeritus Ratan
Tata today expressed delight after the salt-to-
software conglomerate won the bid to acquire
debt-laden Air India. Tata, in a statement that
he tweeted along with an old photo of former
Tata group chairman JRD Tata, said “it will take
considerable effort to rebuild Air India”, which
has a debt of over `60,000 crore and loses
`20 crore every day.
WILL MAKE EFFORT
TO REBUILD AIR
INDIA: RATAN TATA
SON RETURNS!
RETURNS! WILL MAKE EFFORT
INDIA: RATAN TATA
Tata Sons Pvt. was selected as the winning bidder for India’s flag carrier, ending
decades of attempts to privatise a money-losing and debt-laden airline, and
potentially ending years of taxpayer-bailouts that’s kept the company alive
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar:
Ap-
plauding Prime Minis-
ter Narendra Modi on
completing 20 years in
office, Union Home
Minister Amit Shah
said, “PM Modi has
been serving the society
and nation for the last
20 years and will con-
tinue to do so.”
Shah was in Gujarat on
a 24-hour visit, where
he dedicated various
projects and also at-
tended the aarti of God-
dess Becharji at the Be-
charaji Temple in Man-
sa town of Gandhina-
gar district.
Turn to P6
Mohd Fahad
The blast site.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah & Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel
during inauguration of tea stall at Gandhinagar railway station.
THE DONE DEAL IN 5 POINTS
employees will be
given a voluntary
retirement scheme or
VRS in the second
year. Gratuity and
Provident Funds
benefits will be provid-
ed to all employees.
5
After five years,
Tata Sons can
transfer the brand but
only to an Indian
person.
YOU
READ IT
IN FIRST
INDIA
OCTOBER
8, 2021
OUR EDITIONS: JAIPUR, AHMEDABAD, LUCKNOW & NEW DELHI
Rahul: Cong will announce CM name in Punjab if
“party or Punjab” want, but two people can’t lead
Hamid Ansari
Electoral majority
in guise of religious
majority: Ansari
said on India’s
new nationalism

NEWS
AHMEDABAD | FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2022
02
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First India Bureau
Surat: TheNoblePublic
School in Surat com-
memorated the 73rd Re-
public Day on January
26 in a unique manner.
As a part of its “Happi-
ness is in Giving” initia-
tive, the school marked
the occasion by distrib-
uting toys, stationery
items, and other prod-
ucts to those less fortu-
nate than themselves.
The school officials,
teachers, students and
parents visited differ-
ent places in the city on
Republic Day and dis-
tributed clothes, essen-
tial items, masks, sani-
tisers, toys, and station-
ery products to less
fortunate children.
Teachers distributed
food and garments to
pavement-dwellers.
Led by principals
Ashish Sutariya and
Deepa Joshi, several
teachers and dozens of
students and parents
took part in the initia-
tive, which benefited
more than 100 needy
persons. With the aim to
teach children to be-
come more caring to-
wards them, arrange-
ments were also made to
feed animals and birds.
“Service to man is
service to God. The real
celebration is only
when we can help oth-
ers, and that is why we
thought of celebrating
this Republic Day dif-
ferently,” said Prashant
Gondaliya, Trustee, No-
ble Public School.
“The main objective
of the ‘Happiness is in
Giving’ initiative is to
encourage the children
to perform acts of kind-
ness. The initiative not
only results in many
needy persons receiv-
ing help but also helps
inculcate humility
, love,
and compassion in chil-
dren and all of us. We
are confident that our
small step will lead to a
positive change in the
world,” he added.
Surat’s Noble Public School marks
RepublicDayinauniquemanner
JOY OF GIVING
More than 100
needy were
given essential
items, masks,
sanitisers, toys,
and stationery
Gujarat Congress Chief Jagdish Thakor and other Congress leaders stand to attention during a Republic Day event.
Amdavadis in the Amraiwadi area took out a procession with a 73-foot flag adorned with photos of national leaders to mark the day.
GUJARAT MARKS 73rd REPUBLIC DAY
Governor Acharya Devvrat at the unfurling in Gandhinagar.
Education Minister Jitu Vaghani salutes the flag.
CR Patil salutes the Tricolour at the state BJP headquarters.
A marching band was present at the Congress HQ in Ahmedabad.
A couple who wed on R-Day showed their patriotism through the venue decor.
LOP Sukhram Rathva attended an event at Jamlig Primary School.
Ahmedabad BJP chief Amit Shah visited a blood donation camp in Vasna. A woman takes a ride dresses as Mother India.
Congress MLA Imran Khedawala and other party members.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Even as
the Bharatiya Janata
Party is busy training
workers ahead of the
Assembly elections
slated to be held later
this year, the Congress
is attempting to ex-
panding its base using
social engineering. Af-
ter appointing Jagdish
Thakor state unit
president and tribal
leader Sukhram Rath-
va as Leader of Oppo-
sition, now it has now
turned its attention to
the Patidar communi-
ty—by cosying up to
Khodaldham presi-
dent Naresh Patel and
veteran leader Shan-
kersinh Vaghela.
Meanwhile, youth
wing vice-president Yu-
vraj Sinh Jadeja of the
Aam Aadmi Party also
met Naresh Patel on
Thursday, ostensibly to
“seek his support in
making representation
to the state over the
government examina-
tion scandals”.
Patel has already
hinted that he will join
politics if the commu-
nity “asks” him to do
so, at an appropriate
time. As a trustee of
Khodaldham, Patel has
lakhs of Patidars look
up to him.
“All those who be-
lieve in Congress ideol-
ogy are always wel-
come to join the party.
As to who will join
when, it is up to the
party high command,”
Gujarat Congress in-
charge Dr Raghu Shar-
ma said.
However, GPCC chief
Thakor says the Con-
gress is in touch with
Patel and “other like-
minded leaders”.
At an event on
Wednesday, Thakor
praised Shankersinh
Vaghela’s social and
political contribution
in the state and stat-
ed, “Bapu means
struggle and struggle
means Bapu”.
Four Patidar MLAs
leaders from the Con-
gress met also met for-
mer leader of the
Patidar Anamat An-
dolan Samiti (PAAS)
Alpesh Kathiriya on
Wednesday, and asked
him to join the party.
Notably, MLAs Lalit
Kagathra, Lalit Vasoya
and Kirit Patel were all
part of the Patidar
movement, and Pratap
Dudhat is the MLA for
Amreli. These leaders
feel that Kathiriya’s ad-
dition will strengthen
the Congress base in
Saurashtra and in
Patidar-dominated ar-
eas in Surat.
Meanwhile, AAp’s
Jadeja insisted that his
meeting with Patel was
“non-political” in na-
ture, saying, “Patel is
not only a strong figure
in the Patidar commu-
nity, but also runs the
running Sardar Patel
Cultural Foundation,
which helps students
prepare for competitive
examinations.”
He added: “Since
2014, there have been
at least 11 paper leaks
but the government
has done nothing to
give justice to the clev-
er aspirants who are
suffering. Patel has ex-
tended his support in
all forms.”
With poll season approaching,
Cong, AAP test Patidar waters
Leaders from
both parties are
‘in touch’ with
Khodaldham
president
Naresh Patel
Naresh Patel has already hinted
at joining politics when the
time is right. —FILE PHOTO
—PHOTOS
BY
HANIF
SINDHI

GUJARAT
03
Cong fact-finding
committee plans
to study industries
Six workers died and 20 others were hospitalized after
inhaling toxic fumes from a tanker in Sachin GIDC on
January 6. —FILE PHOTO
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Ex-
pressing alarm over
the rising number of
fatal industrial acci-
dents and the in-
creasing risk to peo-
ple’s lives caused by
industrial pollution,
the Congress has de-
cided to form a fact-
finding committee to
study the state’s
31,500 factories.
Gujarat Pradesh
Congress Committee
president Jagdish
Thakor, who made
the announcement
on Thursday, said
that the fact-finding
committee compris-
ing senior party lead-
ers and led by veter-
an Arjun Modhwa-
dia would fight for
justice for the almost
17 lakh people who
work at industrial
units across the state.
As many as 989
workers have died
due to industrial ac-
cidents and harmful
toxic chemicals over
the past five years,
with Surat district
seeing a lion’s share
of these deaths
caused by negli-
gence, he said.
Notably, Surat
Sachin GIDC alone
accounts for 50 tex-
tile dyeing and
printing mills more
than 40 chemical
units and some pow-
er-loom units-most
of which use mi-
grant labour from
Odisha, Bihar and
Uttar Pradesh.
“The Sabarmati,
Tapi, Vishwamitri
and 17 other rivers
in Gujarat are
among the most pol-
luted rivers in the
country. And yet,
several reports
show that at least
five to six trucks
loaded with untreat-
ed toxic chemical
waste are illegally
dumped in the city
sewers each day,
with the blessings
of the Gujarat Pollu-
tion Control Board.
Authorities are de-
liberately turning a
blind eye to the nex-
us between the unit
owners and the
GIDC authorities,”
Thakor also alleged,
adding that this has
allowed an increase
in pollution which,
in turn, has put peo-
ple’s lives at risk.
GUJARAT LOGS 12,911
NEW CASES, 22 DEATHS
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Gujarat
reported 12,911 new
COVID-19 cases on
Thursday
, down from
14,781 a day ago, tak-
ing the overall tally to
11,20,660, while 22
more patients suc-
cumbed to the infec-
tion, the health de-
partment said.
In the last 24 hours,
23,197 persons, almost
double the fresh infec-
tions, recovered from
COVID-19, taking the
tally of recoveries to
9,92,431, said the depart-
ment in a release. Guja-
rat’s recovery rate now
stands at 88.56%.
The release said 22
patients succumbed to
COVID-19 during the
day, pushing up the
death toll to 10,345.
On Wednesday, the
state had recorded 21
deaths linked to the in-
fection.
Ahmedabad city re-
corded the highest
number of new infec-
tions—4,405—followed
by 1,871 in Vadodara
city, 1,008 in Rajkot city
and 708 in Surat city
, the
department said.
As per the latest data
available on the state’s
COVID-19 dashboard,
nearly 1.30 lakh corona-
virustestsarebeingcon-
ductedeverydayinGuja-
rat,whosepositivityrate
now stands at 10.90%.
The rate indicates the
percentage of people
who test positive for the
virus of those overall
who have been tested.
At present, Gujarat
has 1,17,884 active cas-
es, of which 304 patients
are on ventilators, the
release said.
As many as 9.71 crore
doses of coronavirus
vaccines have been ad-
ministered to the eligi-
ble population so far in
Gujarat, of which 2.13
lakh shots were given
during the day, the de-
partment said.
Seven new cases of
COVID-19 and 39 re-
coveries were regis-
tered in the adjoining
Union Territory of
Dadra and Nagar
Haveli and Daman
Diu in the last 24
hours, said an official
release. Of the total
11,263 found positive
for in the UT so far, 135
are under treatment,
four have died, while
11,124 have recovered.
A’bad city had most new cases with 4,405; V’dara city had 1,871, Rajkot had 1,008
nCoV testing outside Vastrapur Lake in Ahmedabad on Thursday. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
COVID-19 UPDATE
9,92,431
TOTALRECOVERED
23,197 MORE
IN A DAY
11,20,660
TOTAL CASES
12,911 CASES
IN A DAY
4,405 MAX
CASES IN
A’BAD
ACTIVE CASES
10,345
TOTAL DEATHS
1,17,884
22 DEATHS
IN A DAY
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Arce-
lorMittal Nippon Steel
India Ltd (AMNS) has
proposed to invest
Rs1,66,000 crore in six
different projects in the
state, under a Memo-
randum of Understand-
ing with Gujarat’s In-
dustries Department on
Thursday
.
The proposed invest-
ment will include
Rs4,200 crore for the ex-
pansion and moderni-
zation of the existing
captive jetty at Hazira,
Rs45,000 crore to in-
crease the capacity of
the existing 8.6 MMTPA
steel manufacturing
plant to 18 MMTPA,
Rs30,000 crore for the
expansion with captive
port capacity to a Green
Steel Plant at Suvali,
Surat, as well Rs30,000
crore for Steel City and
Industrial Cluster in
Kidiabet, Surat.
AMNS will also in-
vest approximately
Rs40,000 crore to set up
hybrid, solar and wind
power plants with a to-
tal production capacity
of 10 gigawatts at vari-
ous locations in the
state. An MoU for a
2,200 MW plant at Ka-
natalav in Bhavnagar
district in the first
phase was also signed
on Thursday
.
Further, the firm will
also invest Rs17,000
crore in another down-
stream coke oven pro-
ject in Hazira, Surat,
officials said.
Additional Chief Sec-
retary (Industries and
Mines) Rajiv Gupta and
CEO of AMNS, Dilip
Oommen inked the
MoU under the umbrel-
la of the 10th Vibrant
Gujarat Global Summit
in the presence of Chief
Minister Bhupendra
Patel. Chief Principal
Secretary to the CM, K
Kailashnathan, Indus-
tries Commissioner Ra-
hul Gupta and senior
AMNS representatives
were also present.
ArcelorMittal Nippon to put `1.66 lakh cr in six Guj projects
VGGS 2022
Major investments will
include 10GW renewable
power plants, port expansion
ACS (Industries and Mines) Rajiv Gupta and ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India CEO Dilip Oommen
signed the deal in the presence of CM Bhupendra Patel.
SPREADING THEIR WINGS
A zoo-born rosy pelican takes flight in its enclosure at the Kamla Nehru Zoological Garden in Ahmedabad’s Kankaria area.
Some 49 pelicans have been born here in the last decade. —PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
Rajkot police to face contempt charges: HC
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The
High Court will initi-
ate a process of fram-
ing charges of con-
tempt of court against
the Rajkot police in-
cluding, the police
commissioner, for fail-
ing to respect and
abide by the court or-
der.
Rajkot Police had
beaten an accused in
2016, who then moved
a petition against po-
lice atrocity. The high
court had asked the
police to settle the is-
sue outside the court
and report it. To date,
the order is not re-
spected and, no report
has been filed. It is a
contempt of court and
hence, a case to initi-
ate charges against
Rajkot police.
It has ordered all po-
lice officials being
shown as respondents
to appear online be-
fore the court on Feb-
ruary 1, when the
charges will be initi-
ated. One of the re-
spondents is former
police commissioner
Anupsingh Gehlot.
3 held for rape
of Surat minor
First India Bureau
Surat: The Dindoli
police on Thursday
arrested three people
for allegedly raping a
ninth class student
of Chikhali. The vic-
tim came in touch
with the accused af-
ter running away
from family and
house in Chikhali.
PSI KB Desai said
that the victim had
escaped her house
because her parents
wanted her to get
married. She came
in contact with the
accused Suraj Singh
in Surat about a
year-and-a-half ago,
the first time she fled
her house. She had
started living with
him then. The vic-
tim claims that Suraj
had tried to rape her
even then.
This time again,
after fleeing from her
house she reached
Surat and met Suraj.
He assured her of a
place to stay in Din-
doli. But a week ago,
it was found that the
teenager had been
constantly molested
by her friend Suraj
and his two associ-
ates, Vimlesh Pathak
and Chandan Jha.
The trio took the
16-year-old girl to a
closed building of
SMC residence and
allegedly raped her.
They left the victim
there, who then
reached the furni-
ture shop, where she
was working and told
everything to the
owner of the shop
Sanjaybhai. He then
helped her file a com-
plaint. A medical ex-
amination is still
pending. Unfortu-
nately, the family
members have dis-
owned the victim.
IS THERE TROUBLE
WAITING FOR THE
FORMER CM?
A petition is moved before
the HC for a self-immolation
case in Rajkot. Three mem-
bers of a Nepali family had
attempted suicide in April
2013, opposing pressure by
builders and politicians to
vacate the house in the com-
mon plot of a society where
they were living. Mahendra
and Gauri Nepali in, their dy-
ing declaration, had named
three politicians, including
former chief minister Vijay
Rupani. The matter is pend-
ing to be heard.

PERSPECTIVE
04
Vol3IssueNo.63
RNINO.GUJENG/2019/79050.
Printed and published by Anita
Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Ex-
press Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar
Printing Planet Survey No.148P,
Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. San-
and, Dist. Ahmedabad. Publishedat
D/3023rdFloorPlotNo.35Titanium
Square,SchemeNo.2,ThaltejTaluka,
Ghatlodiya,Ahmedabad.
Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra.
Editor: Haresh Jhala
responsible for selection of news
under the PRB Act
Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
Birthday greetings to Meghalaya’s
Chief Minister Shri @SangmaConrad.
Praying that he is blessed with
a long and healthy life.
Ashwini Vaishnaw
@AshwiniVaishnaw
Reviewed various railway
projects of Himachal Pradesh with
Shri @jairamthakurbjp Ji and@
ianuragthakur Ji.
SPIRITUAL SPEAK
The peace of God is with
them whose mind and soul
are in harmony, who are
free from desire and wrath,
who know their own soul.
—Bhagavad Gita
IN-DEPTH
TOP TWEETS
HERCULEAN
TASK FOR BJP IN
WESTERN UTTAR
PRADESH?
nion Home Minister
Amit Shah visiting
door-to-door in one
of the western UP
districts, makes for a
worrisome picture for BJP in
Western UP. As Shah has taken
on this Herlecuean task, it sug-
gests a feeling of disquietude in
the party. Watching Shah seek-
ing votes for his party in Ma-
thura-Vrindavan and earlier
trying to entice Jayant Chaud-
hary of the Rashtriya Lok Dal
into his party when one cannot
recall seeing such visuals in ei-
ther 2014 or 2019, gives a hint of
the picture. Western UP is cen-
tral to BJP’s election strategy.
Of the 70 seats in 20 districts of
Meerut, Saharanpur and Mo-
radabad, the party had won 51
in 2017. The region goes to vote
in the first two phases on Febru-
ary 10 and 14.
Deaths of about 700 farmers
during their year-long protest
against the controversial farm
laws may make it difficult for
BJP to repeat that performance.
To BJP’s disadvantage, the-Jat-
Muslim communal divide has
apparently been bridged to an
extent. The SP-RLD tie-up may
also queer the pitch for BJP.
U
tudents and job-
seekers vent their
anger over Rail-
way Recruitment
Board’s incompe-
tence by burning trains and
damaging railways property
.
As a double whammy, they
were chased and beaten up by
the police. Those protesting
were students from Bihar
and poll-bound Uttar
Pradesh. The violent protests
began on January 24, after
RRB declared the results of
the first phase of examina-
tions held across the country
on January 10. The RRB fi-
asco is a cruel joke on thou-
sands of unemployed youth.
Around the time of parlia-
mentary elections in 2019,
railways invited applica-
tions for a little over 35000
Non-Technical Popular Cat-
egory (NTPC) posts and re-
ceived about 1.25 crore appli-
cations for the Level 2 to
Level 6 posts. These exams
were held in phases between
December 28, 2020 and July
31, 2021. Violence erupted af-
ter candidates found that
same names were there in
results of different catego-
ries. Some of the applicants
point to the lack of transpar-
ency in the entire recruit-
ment process. The Railways
Ministry has formed a com-
mittee to look into the stu-
dents’ grievances but that
won’t be of much help as by
the time its findings are out,
hundreds of candidates may
lose out on the basis of age
eligibility criteria.
Those vandalising govern-
ment’s property must be pe-
nalised as even the Supreme
Court has been firm on that
view. At the same time the
railways owe an apology to
the candidates, who stand to
lose due to the RRB’s incom-
petence at a time when, as
per CMIE data, India had a
force of 530 lakh jobless peo-
ple as of December 2021.
RRB’S CRUEL
JOKE ON THE
JOBLESS YOUTH
The Railways Ministry
has formed a committee
to look into the students’
grievances but that
won’t be of much help as
by the time its findings
are out, hundreds of
candidates may lose
out on the basis of age
eligibility criteria
S
PADMA AWARD:
LET’S NOT
POLITICIZE
BUDDHABABU’S
DECISION
n the chilly evening of Janu-
ary 25, 2022 veteran Left lead-
er and former Chief Minister
of West Bengal, Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee made head-
lines, again through his mod-
est ways!
The former CM had said, “I
don’t know anything about a
Padma Bhushan award. No
one told me anything about
it. If they have given me a
Padma Bhushan award, I am
rejecting it.”
Having said that on Tues-
day evening, Buddhadeb on
Wednesday requested gov-
ernment officials not to call
or visit him regarding the
matter of Padma Bhushan.
West Bengal CPM state sec-
retary Surjya Kanta Misra
issued the statement on Bud-
dha’s behalf and said he can
be reached via post because
of his physical condition.
Explaining the party’s
stand, CPM leadership had
said that, “We, as a party,
don’t support the political
stand and economic policies
of the people who are confer-
ring the award. So, if we take
the award from them, we are
supporting them. Thus, we
refuse such awards. This is
our party’s stand. There is
individual opinion as well.
“Former UP CM Kalyan
Singh has received the Pad-
ma Vibhushan for public af-
fairs while Bhattacharya was
conferred Padma Bhushan.
In a way, Singh had a bad
historical background as,
during his tenure, Babri Mas-
jid was demolished while Bh-
attacharyahadacleanrecord.
Had Bhattacharya accepted
the award, it would have justi-
fied Singh’s award,” a senior
CPM leader was quoted.
According to the 1954 Pad-
ma awards order, a resident
may cancel and annual Pad-
ma Award. For withdrawal
or cancellation of awards,
the request can be examined
by the government.
However, No ‘formal’ con-
sent is required for a person
to be bestowed the Padma
awards but, as per the nor-
mal practice, the “willing-
ness of the person proposed
to be conferred with the title,
is informally ascertained”
before the announcement,
Union home ministry offi-
cials had confirmed.
However, “In accordance
with the normal practice,
willingness of the person pro-
posed to be conferred Padma
Awards is informally ascer-
tained (to the extent possible)
before the announcement of
the Award,” the Government
had told Rajya Sabha in 2015
while answering a question.
Political Grapevine has it
that soon after the announce-
ment, the CPM top leadership
in New Delhi had approached
Bhattacharya’s family and
persuaded them to refuse it
since the party as per the tra-
dition doesn’t accept such
honours. Mishra did appar-
ently discuss the award with
Bhattacharya’s family
.
Meanwhile, unfortunately,
The news of Buddhababu’s
Padma-rejection is creating
ripples in the political cir-
cles.If theLeftcamp“claims”
it is a political stunt of the
Centre, Trinamool Congress,
on the other hand, has (coun-
ter) claimed that the “addi-
tion of left-wingers is clear in
paying homage to Buddha
Babu.”
BJP state president Sukan-
ta Majumder, had said, “Bud-
dhadeb Bhattacharya is the
former chief minister of the
state. Keeping in mind his
social and administrative
contribution, the central gov-
ernment felt that he should
be honoured with the Padma
Bhushan. There is no need
for politics to reject the
award. It’s unwanted.”
BJP’s national vice-presi-
dent, Dilip Ghosh, said, “Bud-
dhababu’s rejection of the
award is his personal matter.
However, the CPM has never
maintainedthattradition.The
communists have always in-
sulted the culture of the coun-
try
. So not taking the award is
also a sign of that insult. ”
The matter was also all
over social media. CPM’s Fa-
cebook handle stated, “The
CPI(M)’s policy is consistent
in rejecting such awards
from the state. Our work is
for the people, not for re-
wards.” Everyone mentions
another former Chief Minis-
ter Jyoti Basu. Bharat Ratna
was rejected by Jyoti Basu.”
Alleging Ram-Bam “nex-
us”, Trinamool Congress
HAD CLAIMED THAT LEFT
VOTERS HAVE BEEN
THANKED NOW FOR HAV-
ING VOTED FOR THE BJP.
APART FROM THIS, TRINA-
MOOL’S MOUTHPIECE
‘JAGO BANGLA’ HAD SAID
ON WEDNESDAY THAT
BUDDHADEB HAS BEEN
RECOGNISED FOR CRUSH-
ING THE LAND ACQUISI-
TION MOVEMENT.
TMC also raised the point
of honouring three former
CMs together. It may be re-
called that Buddhadeb Bhat-
tacharjee from West Bengal,
Ghulam Nabi Azad from
Kashmir and Kalyan Singh
(posthumously) from Uttar
Pradesh were named.
TMC said Kalyan Singh
was accused of helping in
demolition of Babri Masjid,
while former Kashmir Chief
Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad,
for some time now… has
been facing opposition from
Congress itself and the party
(TMC) also claimed that the
BJP’s “closeness” was
“CLEARLY EVIDENT” in
the matter. TMC also went on
to say that Buddhadeb was
once close to LK Advani.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY
THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL
O
In a way, former UP CM
Kalyan Singh had a bad
historical background as,
during his tenure, Babri
Masjid was demolished while
Bhattacharya had a clean
record. Had Bhattacharya
accepted the award, it would
have justified Singh’s
award,” a senior CPM
leader was quoted
ROBIN ROY
The writer is Senior Associate Editor,
Free Press Journal, Mumbai and former
Managing Editor, First India
The former Chief Minister had said, “I don’t know
anything about a Padma Bhushan award. No one told me
anything about it. If they have given me Padma Bhushan
award, I am rejecting it. Buddhadeb on Wednesday
requested government officials not to call or visit
him regarding the matter of Padma Bhushan

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CM unfurls...
He also felicitated vet-
erinarian Dr Parthaku-
mar Mehta for his ex-
cellent job under Karu-
na Abhiyan, Yogeshb-
hai Chudasama of
Prakriti Nature Club,
Arvindbhai Bhagwan-
bhai Mer of the Aga
Khan Agency for Habi-
tat, and Sureshbhai Ba-
chubhai Bakhalakhiya
andNitinbhaiHareshb-
hai Ram from Chitra-
vad Volunteers.
The CM also moni-
toredtheadministration
of a “precaution dose”
of the COVID-19 vaccine
to frontline workers at
the event venue, and
handed over cheques of
Rs2.50 crore each to Gir
Somnath collector Ra-
jdev Singh Gohil, for the
development of Nagar-
palika area, and DDO
RavindraKhataleforthe
development of the dis-
trict’s rural areas.
The function was or-
ganized keeping in view
the prevailing situation
of COVID-19 and follow-
ing COVID-19 protocols.
FROM PG 1
INDIA
06
New Delhi: Amid inter-
nal rumblings within
the Congress over Ghu-
lam Nabi Azad being
awarded Padma Bhush-
an, senior Congress
leader Karan Singh on
Thursday said national
awards should not be-
come subject of intra-
partycontroversyandif
“one of our colleagues”
is honoured, he should
be greeted with warm
appreciation rather
than “snide remarks”.
Singh’s comments
come amid a controver-
sy triggered soon after
the announcement of
the Padma awards on
Tuesday evening when
Congress leader Jairam
Ramesh, while com-
menting on CPI (M)
leader Buddhadeb Bh-
attacharya’s refusal to
accept the award, said,
“He wants to be Azad
not Ghulam”. Several
members of the group
of 23 leaders who had
written to Sonia Gan-
dhi demanding an or-
ganisational overhaul
in the Congress con-
gratulated Azad for be-
ing awarded Padma
Bhushan, saying it was
“well-deserved”. Re-
acting to the row, Singh
said he was distressed
at the “unseemly con-
troversy” over the well
deserved Padma Award
to Azad. “These Na-
tional Awards should
not become subject of
inter-party controversy
,
far less of intra-party
ones,” Singh, a former
Union minister and
party stalwart, said in a
statement.
“I have known Ghu-
lam Nabi for half a cen-
tury since he first start-
ed his political career
as an active participant
in my second election
campaign for the Lok
Sabha in 1971 from the
Udhampur constituen-
cy, to which he be-
longs,” he said. Since
then, Singh said, he has
seen Azad rise through
sheer dint of hard
work, dedication and
administrative ability
to becoming a Cabinet
Minister, both with PV
Narasimha Rao and Dr
Manmohan Singh. —PTI
If colleague honoured, greet him with appreciation:Karan Singh
PADMA AWARD TO GHULAM NABI AZAD

The award was
well-deserved
and these
National
Awards should
not become
subject of inter-
party
controversy, far
less of intra-
party ones
‘DECISION POLITICAL, NOT ON MERIT’
IN THE COURTYARD
New Delhi: The SC on Thursday orally asked the
Punjab govt not to take any coercive step against SAD
leader Bikram Singh Majithia till Jan 31 when it hears
his pre-arrest bail plea in a drugs case. A bench com-
prising CJI NV Ramana Justices AS Bopanna Hima
Kohli took note of the submissions of senior advocate
Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Majithia, that the plea
seeking anticipatory bail plea needed urgent hearing as
the accused has been facing “political vendetta”.
SC ASKS PUNJAB GOVT NOT TO ARREST
MAJITHIA IN DRUGS CASE TILL JAN 31
KERALA HC GRANTS
DILEEP RELIEF
FROM ARREST
Kochi: The Kerala High
Court Thursday granted
Malayalam actor Dileep
and four others protec-
tion from arrest till next
Wednesday (February 2)
in the case pertaining to
the alleged conspiracy
to kill the police offic-
ers who had probed the
abduction and sexual
assault case of a woman
actor in which Dileep is
an accused.
New Delhi: The
Enforcement Directo-
rate (ED) on Thursday
said it has arrested
Karvy Stock Broking
Limited (KSBL) CMD
C Parthasarathy and
group CFO G Krishna
Hari in connection with
a money laundering
investigation linked to
alleged diversion of
clients’ securities of
over Rs 2,873 crore.
GRAFT: KARVY
STOCK BROKING
CMD, CFO HELD
Mumbai: The SC on Thursday directed Maha Police
not to arrest BJP MLA Nitesh Rane for 10 days in an
attempt-to-murder case registered. Disposing of the
pre-arrest bail plea of Rane, son of Union minister
Narayan Rane, a bench headed by Chief Justice NV
Ramana asked him to surrender before the trial court
in the meanwhile, and seek regular bail in the matter.
SURRENDER AND SEEK BAIL: NITESH
RANE GETS 10-DAY SC ARREST SHIELD
CORONAVIRUS: SC ADJOURNS HEARING ON
BOMBAY HC’S REDUCED WORKING HOURS
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned a
hearing on a plea challenging circular issued by the Bom-
bay HC reducing its working hours to three hours a day in
view of COVID. A bench headed by Justice DY Chandra-
chud listed the matter for Feb 4 for hearing. The plea filed
by activist Ghanshyam Upadhyay stated that due to the
Standard Operating Procedure(SOP), the principal bench
of the High Court has been “functioning only for name-
sake” causing hardships to the litigants and advocates.
NHRC’S OBSERVATION FOR WB JUSTIFIED BY CM’S ACTIONS: GUV
5G LAWSUIT: DELHI HC
REDUCES COST IMPOSED
ON JUHI CHAWLA
LEGENDARY INDIAN HOCKEY
PLAYER CHARANJIT DIES
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Thurs-
day reduced the costs imposed on actor
Juhi Chawla and two other plaintiffs
by a single bench last year from Rs 20
lakh to Rs 2 lakh in a 5G-related suit
and expunged the adverse observa-
tions against her in the verdict. The
court Tuesday had said that she would
have to voluntarily do some service for
a public cause, a condition which was
agreed to by Chawla.
Shimla: Captain of India’s 1964 To-
kyo Olympics gold medal-winning
hockey team, Charanjit Singh, died
on Thursday at his home in Una,
Himachal Pradesh after suffer-
ing a cardiac arrest that followed
prolonged age-related illnesses.
The former mid-fielder was 90 and
would have turned a year older
next month. He is survived by two
sons and one daughter.
Kolkata: Firing a fresh salvo at the Mamata Banerjee government, West Bengal
Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has accused the Chief Minister of “extreme trans-
gressions” of constitutional prescriptions, claiming that such actions justify the
observation of an NHRC panel on post-poll violence that law of ruler and not rule of
law prevails in the state. “There have been continually and serially extreme trans-
gressions of constitutional prescriptions — justifying NHRC observation that in the
state there is ‘law of the ruler, not rule of law’,” Dhankhar wrote to Banerjee.
CRUCIAL READ
New Delhi: Omicron is
now the dominant vari-
ant of Covid-19 in In-
dia, the government
said on Thursday.
There are also early in-
dications of a plateau
in the number of cases,
with just the top 10
states contributing to
77 per cent of total ac-
tive cases in the coun-
try, the health ministry
told reporters.
The percentage of
the Omicron variant
increased rapidly in
Dec Jan and the prev-
alence of the Omicron
subvariant called BA.2
is increasing in our
community, it added.
The govt credited
wide vaccination cover-
age for low death rate.
“Active case numbers
and corresponding
deaths are much lower
in this wave,” it said.
More than 90 per
cent of cases are in
home isolation with
mild to moderate sever-
ity and there are a low-
er number of cases
needing oxygen and
ICU beds, it said. —PTI
Omicron dominant variant
in country, says Health Min
A special Omicron ward in a hospital.
MARKET NOD TO COVAXIN, COVISHIELD
Lucknow: Amidst con-
tinuing unrest among
railway job aspirants in
Uttar Pradesh and Bi-
har, Bahujan Samaj
Party (BSP) chief
Mayawati on Thursday
accused the BJP of hav-
ing a narrow mindset
of making the youth
sell “pakoras”.
“There has been a
huge uproar in Uttar
Pradesh and Bihar over
UPTNT and now over
Railways’RRB-NTPCre-
sults. This is a proof of
thefailureof thegovern-
ments. Beating up poor
and unemployed youths
for protesting, and play-
ing with their future is
totally unjustified,” she
said in a tweet in Hindi.
“Due to the wrong
policies of the govt, pov-
erty and unemployment
havereachedthepeak.It
is unjust to not have the
examination even for
small government jobs
for years. BJP should
change its narrow mind-
set of making the youth
sell ‘pakoras’ (snacks),”
she added. —PTI
Mayawati’s
‘pakora’ jibe at
BJP post Rlys
exam unrest
Goa Assy polls: Parrikar’s son
files nomination independently New Delhi: Two days
after China held a vir-
tual summit with Cen-
tral Asian countries,
India too stepped in and
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi pitched for
“an integrated ap-
proach for regional con-
nectivity and coopera-
tion for the next 30
years”.
He also flagged Af-
ghanistan as a common
concern and said that
their “mutual coopera-
tion has become even
more important for re-
gional security and sta-
bility”.
“We all have the same
concerns and objectives
for regional security
. We
are all concerned about
the developments in Af-
ghanistan,” Modi said
at the first virtual sum-
mit with the Central
Asian leaders. “In this
context also, our mutual
cooperation has become
even more important
for regional security
and stability
,” he said.
The virtual summit
saw the participation of
the five presidents —
Kazakhstan’s Kassym-
Jomart Tokayev, Uzbek-
istan’s Shavkat Mirzi-
yoyev, Emomali Rah-
mon of Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan’s Gur-
banguly Berdimuhame-
dow and Sadyr Japarov
of Kyrgyz Republic.
—Agencies
BMC polls: 27 corporators
of Congress join NCP
Malegaon: As many as 27 corporators of the Con-
gress party joined the Nationalist Congress Party
on Thursday. All the corporators joined the party
in the presence of party leader and Deputy Chief
Minister Ajit Pawar. Malegaon Mayor Tahira Shaikh
is among the 27 corporators who joined the party.
This development holds importance ahead of the
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elec-
tion that is scheduled to held this year. —ANI
Days after China, PM
holds summit with five
Central Asian countries
Panaji: Utpal Parrikar,
the son of former Goa
Chief Minister Mano-
har Parrikar, has joined
the race for his father’s
constituency Panaji as
an independent candi-
date after the BJP de-
nied him a ticket.
Utpal Parrikar of-
fered prayers at a tem-
ple this morning before
filing his nomination
papers from Panaji.
He will take on sit-
ting MLA Atanasio ‘Ba-
bush’ Monserrate, who
was chosen over him by
the BJP for the Panaji
contest.
An upset Utpal Par-
rikar quit the BJP last
week and declared that
he would contest from
his father’s constituen-
cy anyway
.
Manohar Parrikar, a
three-time Chief Minis-
ter, died in 2019. He held
the Panaji seat for 25
years. In the by-election
after Mr Parrikar’s
death, his long-time ri-
val Babush Monserrate,
accused in a rape case,
won as a Congress can-
didate but later
switched to the BJP.
Utpal Parrikar quit
last Friday, and said he
would readily withdraw
from the contest if the
BJP fielded “an honest
candidate with integri-
ty and no criminal re-
cords” from Panaji. He
did not name Mr Mon-
serrate.
Talking to media, Ut-
pal Parrikar, the elder
son of Manohar Parri-
kar, said the decision
to quit the BJP was
“most difficult”. —PTI



POLL SNIPPETS
Utpal addressing a press conference in Panaji. —FILE PHOTO
New Delhi: A TMC del-
egation met the Elec-
tion Commission (EC)
in Delhi regarding the
upcoming Goa assem-
bly polls.
“On January 21 a
team from EC raided
the TMC party office in
Goa at around 11 pm
and vandalised hoard-
ings and flexes while
the office staff was kept
on hold. Our meeting
with the Election Com-
mission was regarding
that incident. We spoke
for25minutes”,claimed
TMC leader and MP
Saugata Roy
.
“We told the EC that
despite being aware of
the new TMC office in
Goa, vandalisation on
their part was not
right”, alleged Roy
.
TMC delegation meets
EC regarding Goa polls
Pb: New entrants spice
up contest in Mansa
Chandigarh: Fielding
of new faces by major
political parties in the
semi-rural constituency
of Mansa has spiced up
the contest in this cotton
belt for the next month’s
Punjab assembly polls.
While the ruling Con-
gress has fielded popu-
lar Punjabi singer
Shubhdeep Singh Sid-
hu, better known as
‘Sidhu Moosewala’, the
opposition Aam Aadmi
Party’s candidate is Vi-
jay Singla and Shirom-
ani Akali Dal has field-
ed Prem Arora in Man-
sa. Mansa, where peo-
ple mainly grow cotton,
paddy and vegetables, is
known for electing leg-
islators on many occa-
sions in the past from
opposition parties.
Karan Singh Ghulam Nabi Azad
SNUBBED BY BJP

BIZ BUZZ
07
Budgetshouldfocusonbridging
economicinequality:DSubbarao
New Delhi: The up-
coming Budget should
focus on creating jobs
and bridging the wid-
ened inequality in the
economy besides accel-
erating growth, former
RBI Governor D Sub-
barao said on Thurs-
day while observ-
ing that given the
continuing need
to raise spend-
ing on educa-
tion, health and
infrastructure,
there is not
much leeway for
tax cuts.
“Accelerat-
ing growth is
the objective
of every Budg-
et as it should be
of this one. But this
Budget should pay
special attention to
bridging the widened
inequality in the econ-
omy,” he said.
While noting that the
COVID-19 pandemic
has caused enormous
distress to
the low-in-
come seg-
ments who op-
erate in the infor-
mal econo-
my, Sub-
barao said
the upper income seg-
ments have not only
been able to protect
their incomes but have
in fact been able to
grow their savings and
wealth.
Citing the latest
World Inequality Re-
port which
had said
t h a t
In- dia is among the
most unequal
countries in the
world, he said,
“Such wide ine-
quality is
notonlymorallywrong
and politically corro-
sive, but it will also
dent our long-term
growth prospects.”
“We need job intensive
growth. If there is a
theme for this Budget,
it should be jobs,” he
said.
The former
RBI Gov-
e r n o r
pointed
out that
jobs have
been lost be-
cause of the
growth slow-
down and also
because of the
shift in activity
from the labour-
intensive informal
sector to the capi-
tal-intensive
formal sector.
“Growth is neces-
sary to generate jobs,
but not sufficient,” he
said, adding that there
is a need for stronger
emphasis on improv-
ing the ease of doing
business through gov-
ernance reforms so
that investment be-
comes a promising op-
tion for both domestic
and foreign investors.
Subbarao pointed
out that raising the
level of exports is good
not just for balance of
payments reasons but
also from a jobs per-
spective b e c a u s e
export produc-
t i o n is la-
b o u r i n -
tensive.
—PTI
DISTRESS TO LOW-INCOME SEGMENTS
Sensexfalls581points,Nifty
endsabove17,110-mark
Mumbai: Equity benchmark
Sensex tumbled 581 points on
Thursday
, in tandem
with a global
selloff after the
US Federal Re-
serve signalled
policy tighten-
ing from March.
The 30-share
index ended
581.21 points
or 1.00%
lower at
57,276.94.
S i m i l a rly, the NSE
Nifty plunged 167.80 points or 0.97% to
17,110.15. HCL Tech was the top loser in
the Sensex pack, skidding over 4%, fol-
lowed by Tech Mahindra Dr Reddy’s,
Wipro, TCS, Titan and Infosys.
On the other hand, Axis Bank, SBI,
Maruti and Kotak Bank were among the
gainers. —PTI
RUPEE SLUMPS 30
PAISE TO 75.08
AGAINST $
Mumbai: Registering its third
straight session of loss, the
Indian rupee on Thursday
depreciated by 30 paise to
close at 75.08 (provisional)
against the US dollar, tracking
the strength of the American
currency after a hawkish US
Fed policy stance. —PTI
I-T refunds worth
`1.62 lakh cr issued
Adani Wilmar IPO
subscribed 58%
New Delhi: The In-
come Tax department
on Thursday said it
has issued refunds
worth `1.62 lakh crore
to more than 1.79 crore
taxpayers so far this
fiscal. This includes
1.41 crore refunds for
2020-21 fiscal amount-
ing to `27,111.40 crore.
“CBDT issues refunds
o f
over
`1,62,448 crore to more
than 1.79 crore taxpay-
ers from 1st Apr,2021
to 24th Jan,2022,” the
IT department tweet-
ed. This includes per-
sonal Income Tax re-
funds of `57,754 crore
and corporate tax re-
funds of `1.04 lakh
crore have been is-
sued. —PTI
New Delhi: The `3,600
crore initial public of-
fer (IPO) of Adani Wil-
mar saw decent inves-
tor response on the
first day of the bidding
process on Thursday
.
The issue was sub-
scribed 58 per cent by
5 pm. It saw applica-
tions for 7,05,41,510
shares so far against
the total issue size of
12,25,46,150 shares.
The IPO is entirely a
fresh issue of shares.
Ahead of the IPO,
the company mobi-
lised `940 crore from
15 anchor investors.
Government of Singa-
pore, Monetary Au-
thority of Singapore,
Jupiter India Fund,
Volrado Venture Part-
ners Fund, Societe
Generale, Cohesion
MK Best Ideas, Winro
Commercial and Dove-
tail India Fund were
among marquee for-
eign investors. HDFC
Mutual Fund, Nippon
Life India Trustee,
Aditya Birla Sun Life
Trustee, and Sun Life
Excel India Fund also
participated in the an-
chor round.
The company is sell-
ing its shares in the
price range of `218-230
apiece. Investors can
bid for a minimum of
65 equity shares and in
multiples of 65 there-
of. The issue can be
subscribed till Janu-
ary 31, Monday
.
Sebi to send notices, summons
via instant messaging services
New Delhi: Sebi will
now be sending show
cause notices and
summons to alleged
offenders of securi-
ties market rules
through instant mes-
saging services, a
move that will make
the process faster.
At present, the reg-
ulator sends such doc-
uments through ei-
ther registered post,
courier or electronic
mail.
Also, Sebi has
tweaked norms per-
taining to powers of
investigating author-
ity for seeking infor-
mation and docu-
ments in respect of
any transaction in se-
curities markets,
which are under in-
vestigation.
To effect these, the
regulator has amend-
ed Prohibition of
Fraudulent and Un-
fair Trade Practices
(PFUTP) norms relat-
ing to securities mar-
ket.
Summons or notic-
es issued by Sebi un-
der PFUTP norms will
be served on the per-
son by delivering or
tendering it to that
person or his duly au-
thorised agent. —PTI
1 million job potential in green sector by 2030
New Delhi: India’s re-
newable energy sector
has the potential to em-
ploy around one mil-
lion people by 2030, and
most of the new jobs
would be generated by
small-scale renewable
energy projects, ac-
cording to a study
.
India’s renewable en-
ergy sector could po-
tentially employ
around one million
people by 2030, which
would be ten times
more than the existing
workforce of an esti-
mated 1.1 lakh em-
ployed by the sector,
according to an inde-
pendent study released
on Thursday
.
The study ‘India’s
Expanding Clean En-
ergy Workforce’ high-
lighted that most of the
new jobs would be gen-
erated by small-scale
renewable energy pro-
jects such as rooftop
solar and mini and mi-
cro-grid systems com-
pared to utility or
large-scale projects like
solar parks.
The CEEW-NRDC-
SCGJ analysis also
highlighted the adverse
impact of the pandem-
ic on employment in
the renewable energy
sector.
In comparison to
12,400 new workers em-
ployed in the sector in
FY19, only 5,200 new
workers were employed
in FY20 and 6400 were
employed in FY21, it
said.
—PTI
New Delhi: Ola Electric
will invest over $100
million over the next
five years and set up
a global centre for ad-
vanced engineering and
vehicle design in the
UK. Ola Futurefoundry
will work in-sync with
the design and engi-
neering teams based at
Ola Campus in Bengal-
uru. “It will house glob-
al talent across multiple
disciplines of 2W and
4W vehicle design,
advanced high-per-
formance automotive
engineering, digital and
physical modeling and
more,” it added. The
centre will also house
talent that will focus
on vehicle RD around
new energy systems
including cell technolo-
gies. —PTI
OLA TO INVEST OVER $100MN IN UK CENTRE
New Delhi: NTPC
Renewable Energy Ltd,
has invited bids for
selection of devel-
opers for inter-state
transmission system
(ISTS)-connected en-
ergy storage facility of
3,000 MW capacity at
any location in India to
meet round-the-clock
requirement of renew-
able energy. NREL
intends to avail energy
storage facility to meet
its round-the-clock
renewable energy re-
quirement with a wind/
solar generation profile
under service model
through an ISTS-con-
nected energy storage
solutions with capacity
of 3000 MWh with 500
MW (min) at any loca-
tion in India, as per the
document. —PTI
NTPC INVITES BIDS FOR 3GW ENERGY STORAGE
D Subbarao
Green H2 policy in next
10 days: R K Singh
New Delhi: The
green hydrogen poli-
cy will be unveiled in
the next 10 days fea-
turing incentives like
free transmission for
25 years to boost pro-
duction of this clean
source of energy,
Power and New Re-
newable Energy Min-
ister R K Singh said
on Thursday
.
“We will come out
with the green hydro-
gen policy in the next
10 days. We will give
free transmission for
25 years. So you can
generate power for
making hydrogen in
Rajasthan or trans-
port it to Guwahati or
to Baruni refinery (to
make hydrogen),”
said Singh while ad-
dressing a virtual
conference on smart
metering organised
by industry body CII.
The minister also
said that the policy
will feature dollar de-
nominated bids, offer
of land in renewable
energy parks and
land allocation near
ports for creating
bunkers for green hy-
drogen or ammonia.
“We want India to
emerge as the export-
er for green hydro-
gen... Japan wants to
import and Germany
also,” Singh said.
Raising the issue
of payment for power
supply, he said free
power supply ulti-
mately affects the en-
tire value chain.
“If he (politician or
public representa-
tive) wants to give 100
units free then he can
do so from the budg-
et. We don’t mind
that. He can give en-
tire taxpayers’ money
for free electricity or
water but then he
would not be left with
funds for develop-
ment of roads and
other works.”
The minister was
of the view that if
they (states) cannot
pay the subsidy for
free electricity from
their budget then
they should not prom-
ise such freebies.
About smart me-
tering, the minister
informed that the
government will
come out with an ap-
proved list of models
and manufacturers
for smart meters.—PTI
CHIP PROBLEM

COVID-19
UPDATE
WORLD
5,647,735
TOTAL DEATHS
287,953,257
TOTAL RECOVERED
70,232,956
ACTIVE CASES
363,833,948
TOTAL CASES
INDIA
491,729
TOTAL DEATHS
37,677,328
TOTAL RECOVERED
2,202,443
ACTIVE CASES
40,371,500
TOTAL CASES
When life seems to be speeding
by, pause to watch the sunset
and the sparrow take flight!
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO Editor-in-Chief, First India
08
2NDFRONT
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The
Vishva Hindu Pari-
shad (VHP) observed
a bandh (total shut-
down) in Dhandhuka
town of Ahmedabad
district on Thursday
to protest the murder
of a 27-year-old Hin-
du man allegedly by
members of another
religion two days
back over his social
media post, its office-
bearer said.
Police personnel were
deployed in the town
and surrounding areas
topreventanyuntoward
incident, and most parts
of Dhandhuka town re-
mained completely shut
since Thursday morn-
ing due to the bandh
call, an official of po-
lice’s Ahmedabad rural
control said.
While the police did
not reveal the exact
reason behind the mur-
der of Kishan Boliya,
the VHP claims that
the man was killed by
people from another re-
ligion as they were an-
gry with him for shar-
ing a controversial
message on social me-
dia recently.
“We know that per-
sons from another faith
wereangryatBoliyaand
had threatened him re-
cently over that social
media post. We want the
police to catch all those
behind the murder of
the Hindu youth. They
must be tried in the fast
track court,” Gujarat
VHP spokesperson Hit-
endrasinh Rajput said.
“According to the FIR
(first information re-
port)filedatDhandhuka
police station, Boliya
was shot dead on Janu-
ary 25 by two unidenti-
fied bike-borne assail-
antsinaresidentialarea
of the town,” said Depu-
ty Superintendent of Po-
lice, Reena Rathva.
“We have formed sev-
en teams to nab the cul-
prits. We are exploring
all possible angles. Local
crimebranchalongwith
Special Operations
Groupof theAhmedabad
police has also joined in.
Adequate number of po-
lice personnel have been
deployed in the town to
maintainlawandorder,”
Rathva said.
M e a n w h i l e ,
Ahmedabad Superin-
tendent of Police Viren-
drasinh Yadav said two
suspects have been de-
tained for questioning
in connection with the
murder case.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: Chair-
man Vallabhbhai
Patel of the
Ahmedabad Munic-
ipal Transport Ser-
vice presented the
body’s revised budg-
et, with an increase
of Rs7 crore over
the draft buget, for
fiscal 2022-23 on
Thursday.
Patel said that bus
travel will be free for
parents of any child
who died during the
pandemic for the du-
ration of financial
year 2022-23. Similar-
ly, senior citizens
above 65 years of age
will also be able to
travel for free.
“Students studying
in municipal schools
run by the town pri-
mary education com-
mittee will be able to
travel for free in
AMTS buses to get to
and from school. All
of them will be given
a free bus pass for
travel,” he said.
Patel further said
that a total budget of
Rs536.14 crore has
been sanctioned.
The AMTS plans to
add 450 new buses, in-
cluding 50 electric
ones, and improve the
existing schedule to
maximize frequency
to benefit commuters.
“The 50 electric
buses will be pro-
cured from the 15th
Finance Commission
grant and will be op-
erated between the
two junctions of Sard-
ar Patel Ring Road,”
Patel said.
First India Bureau
Vadodara: Shalini
Agarwal, the city’s
Municipal Commis-
sioner, on Thursday
tabled a people-friend-
ly draft budget with a
total outlay of
Rs3,833.49 crore. Not
only is there no recom-
mendation to increase
taxes, but it also pro-
poses Rs1,330 crore for
development projects.
Agarwal said that the
city will buy electric ve-
hicles and set up four
charging stations. Fur-
ther, it is also planning
to set up air monitoring
stations, low-income
housing schemes and
100 more urban forests.
It is also planning to
set up a 2 MW floating
solar power plants in the
Ajwa Sarovar, which
will be the first of its
kindinthestate.Tomax-
imize usage of solar en-
ergy
, VMC will also in-
stall solar plates on over-
head water tanks, pump
houses, sewage treat-
ment plants. etc.
In order to fund the
planned development,
VMC plans to sell Rs130
crore worth of land, and
take a low-ineterst loan
of Rs100 crore.
VMC will strengthen-
infrastructurelikewater
facilities, drainage,
roads, and solid waste
management, and also
build for the homeless,
Agarwal added.
Kishan Boliya (27) was shot dead by unknown bike-borne assailants. —FILE PHOTO
Electric buses lined up ahead of being inaugurated by CM
Bhupendra Patel in December; Ahmedabad will soon get 50
of these as part of AMTS’s expanded fleet. —FILE PHOTO
BANDH IN DHANDHUKA
AFTER MAN MURDERED
Allegedly killed over ‘controversial’ posts against another community
BACKGROUND?
AMTS adds `7 cr in
revised budget for FY ’23
VMC surplus draft budget plans
`1,300 cr development projects
First India Bureau
Rajkot: The standing
committee meeting of
Rajkot Municipal Cor-
poration held on
Thursday has ap-
proved property tax
benefits of around
Rs3 crore to those who
have suffered busi-
ness losses last year.
Property tax has
been waived for hotels,
resorts, amusement
and water parks, cine-
ma houses, multiplex-
es and gymnasiums
from April 1, 2021, to
March 3, 2022, based on
the Municipal Com-
missioner’s letter num-
ber 288 of December 30,
2021. For those who
have already paid the
property tax, the
amount will be credit-
ed to their bank ac-
counts.
The meeting took
this decision on 38 ap-
plications received.
Expenses totalling
Rs29,10,37,283 was ap-
proved and the in-
come generated from
shops sold at Shitlaji
township in ward
number 2 stood at Rs2,
23,00,000.
The major works
include road works—
melting and patch-
work of Rs6,17,86,668;
waterworks of
Rs7,65,39,100; solid
waste management
works including the
purchase of 100 tipper
vans and 1000 wheel-
barrow totalling to
Rs8,79,00; payment to-
wards railway land ac-
quirement charges of
Rs1,94,04,680 and mak-
ing pucca vokdas for
Rs19,33,715.
The committee
also approved a
medical grant for
RMC employees for
Rs4,65,090. Grant for
medical set-up dedi-
cated for COVID-19
work was approved
at Rs73,39,184.
RMC nod for
property tax
benefits of `3 cr
First India Bureau
Vadodara: Vadodara
girl Riddhi Ramchan-
dani was honoured for
completing education
from first to 12th stand-
ard with 100% attend-
ance by her school
Navrachna. The Dis-
trict Education Officer
had recommended this
award for Riddhi. Min-
ister of State for Social
Justice and Empower-
ment Pradeep Parmar
awarded Riddhi with
the certificate on Re-
public Day and com-
mended her achieve-
ment.
Her father Mahesh
Ramchandani said,
“Riddhi got an award
for 100% attendance in
school every year till
the sixth standard. Af-
ter that, she decided to
study till 12th standard
without taking any
leaves and we support-
ed her.” Even when out
on social and family oc-
casions, they would not
let her miss school and
have always returned
on time from holidays
or occasions for her to
attend school the next
day
.
Riddhi also topped
the school in the 10th
and 12th board exami-
nations. The pandemic
was a difficult phase for
all, but fortunately, her
schooling was over be-
fore the lockdown was
announced. Chairper-
son and Board of Man-
agement Navrachna
Education Society Tejal
Amin too applauded
Riddhi’s achievement.
“It’s a lifetime memo-
rable moment for me
and this is only because
I loved going to school.
Don’t miss a single mo-
ment of your school
life,” said a jubilant
Riddhi. She is currently
pursuing BBA Honors
from Deendayal Energy
University and prepar-
ing for UPSC exams.
Girl lauded for never missing school in 12 years
SMC PRESENTS `6,970
CR DRAFT BUDGET
First India Bureau
Surat: The Surat
Municipal commis-
sioner on Thursday
presented a draft
budget for the year
2022-23. The draft
budget of Rs6,970
crore is Rs433 crore
more than the previ-
ous budget of
Rs6,537 crore.
It is decided to
spend Rs3,183 crore
on capital work,
health, and develop-
ment works. No
change in general tax
has been made but
user charges have
risenbyRs12.47crore.
SMCcommissioner
Banchhanidhi Pani
said, “Under the
Swarnim Yojana,
Rs300 crore will be
spent on water facili-
ties in newer areas.
We have planned to
create more green
space to control and
even out the ground-
water level by 2050.
Currently
, Surat cur-
rently uses about
1,200-1,400 MLD. We
will try to take up to
2,000 MLD.”
SMIMER Hospital
will be expanded into
asuper-specialityhos-
pital,atacostof Rs118
crore. New schemes
worthRs315crorewill
be implemented un-
der Amrut Yojana 2.0
work to develop Du-
mas as a tourist desti-
nation will start soon.
Of the city’s 192
lakes, 24 will be devel-
oped on a large scale.
Koyli Khadi, Mithi
Khadi and Vive-
kananda Khadi will
be dredged and recon-
structed.
Riddhi Ramchandani of Navrachana
School was felicitated on Republic
Day for 100% attendance
Riddhi Ramchandani with her parents.
(Inset) The certificate
awarded to her by Minister
of State for Social Justice and
Empowerment Pradeep Parmar.
Total budget of
`536.14 crore has
been sanctioned for
the coming fiscal
CAPITAL EXPENDITURE
PROJECTS IN 2022-23 (`CR)
Building, housing and flyovers 464.90
Roads, bridges 228.79
Drainage 182.51
Water supply 107.31
Stormwater 37.75
Street light 35.00
Land acquisition 30.10
Health 27.95
Solid waste management 21.24
crematorium 19.24
Councillors' grants 30.03
VMC contribution 110.00
Other development expenditure 1.45
REVENUE EXPENDITURE
IN 2022-23 (`CR)
Administrative 707.57
Maintenance and repairs 260.54
Primary bducation 184.00
Electricity bill 96.38
Transfer from revenue plan 55.00
Loan margin 44.75
Miscellaneous 4.73
1,352.95

he annual cal-
endars of
First India
2022 were
l a u n c h e d
amid fanfare
on Thursday
by Jagdeesh Chandra
in a low-profile func-
tion, as per corona pro-
tocol, at Club Haven,
Jaipur. This year, First
India has launched two
calendars and both of
them are equally beau-
tiful. It was a graceful
merging of the tradi-
tional and modernity,
Indian and Western
cultures, the ethnic
and contemporary,
withbeautyallaround.
The Rajasthani cal-
endar showcases in
great elegance the un-
surpassed allure of
our beloved desert
state with each month
a picturesque state-
ment of pulchritude
and exquisiteness. At
the same time, the
beauties of the glam-
our calendar are so
awesome that one
doesn’t feel like turn-
ing the month.
Gaurav Gaur, Ashok
Singh, Nikhil Anand,
Rishee Miglani,
Shaan, Lokesh Shar-
ma, Yogesh Mishra,
Kapil Raj Akanksha
Bhalla, Mona Gautam,
Swati Jangid, Poonam
Sharma and Mannat
Siwach who recently
won the Miss Teen In-
ternational India 2021
title along with many
of the page 3 celebri-
ties of Jaipur attended
the launch as did the
models whose faces
adorn the calendars.
The concept and
styling is by Shaan and
Elite Miss Rajasthan
Director Gaurav Gaur
while the entire shoot
has been done by
Shaan. The design and
print is by Ashok Sin-
gh of Big Boss Studio.
Prashant of Manda-
kani whose traditional
wear has been show-
cased also attended
the event. Elite
Miss Rajasthan,
Glamanand Miss
India, Faspro
Fashion Acade-
my, Style Skool
and KP Produc-
tions supported
the shoot as did
Manmeet Singh.
Moon Bohra,
Aditi Dabhai,
Sunil Parihar,
Manav Golecha,
Aman Singh and
Kishan who all are
closely associated
with the calendars
sent their best wishes.
The exquisite loca-
tions of the shoot are
Sawai Vilas, Rantham-
bore and Chomu
Palace with a couple
of photographs at
some undisclosed
heritage properties
of Rajasthan.
AHMEDABAD, FRIDAY
JANUARY 28, 2022
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
The Annual Calendar of First India 2022 has a dual avatar this year, one of fashion
and glamour and another which exuberantly celebrates and promotes the tradition,
culture and heritage of Rajasthan. Jagdeesh Chandra launched both the calendars
on Thursday at Club Haven, Jaipur!
UNRIVALLED GLAMOUR!
The traditional calendar will not
only promote the culture and
heritage of Rajasthan across the
national and international audi-
ence in a hitherto unique manner
but will also provide Rajasthani girls with a
chance at employment in the national and
international fashion arena. This calendar
will ensure a place and platform for the
rural and young talent from the districts of
Rajasthan on the runways of international
repute.” —JAGDEESH CHANDRA
ANITA HADA
anita.hada@firstindianews.com
T
—MORE IN CITY
FIRST TOMORROW
Jagdeesh Chandra with (L-R) Muskan Kamdar, Swati Jangid, Poonam Sharma, Tanu Choudhary, Akanksha Bhalla, Neelanjana Jangid, Rewati Upadhyay, Mansi Bachani,
Mannat Siwach, Yogesh Mishra, Lokesh Sharma, Nikhil Anand, Rishee Miglani, Ashok Singh, Prashant Poddar, Shaan, Gaurav Gaur, Saurabh Verma, Anita Hada, Mona Gautam,
Aanchal Ajaipal, Soni Kumari, Himakshi Choudhary, Simran Kashyap, Shubdha Panwar and Megha Shyam Soni during the First India Annual Calender 2022 launch
—PHOTOS BY SANTOSH SHARMA MUKESH KIRADOO
(L-R) Tanu, Soni, Akanksha, Swati, Himakshi, Simran, Neelanjana, Simran, Aanchal, Mannat,
Muskan, Shubdha, Rewati, Megha, Poonam, Riya, Angel and Srishti pose with the calendars
(L-R) Riya Rarh Choudhary, Astha Khandelwal and Poonam Sharma
FIRSTINDIAANNUALCALENDER2022

10-11
ETC
FIRST INDIA ANNUAL
CALENDER 2022
A glimpse of the traditional Rajasthani calender with (Standing) L-R: Swati Jangid, Astha Khandelwal,
Himakshi Choudhary, Akanksha Bhalla, Mona Gautam, Shrishti Khatri and Rutvi Tiwari; (Sitting)
L-R: Simran Modi, Radhika Rarh Choudhary, Poonam Sharma, Divisha Paliwal and Muskan Kamdar

26 JAN
26 JAN CELEBRATIONS!
CELEBRATIONS!
Jagdeesh Chandra unfurled the Tricolour at the First India News channel office on the
morning of January 26, Wednesday. The entire First India family was present in true
patriotic spirit and the entire atmosphere was replete with the fervour of Bharat Mata ki Jai!
—PHOTOS BY MUKESH KIRADOO
12
CITY BUZZ
GET VACCINATED
STAY MASKED
he end of win-
ter is knock-
ing on our
doors, the sea-
son of juicy
apples and dry skin is
coming to an end. Be-
fore the frosty season
ends, we must rejoice
in this period with our
whole hearts. From de-
licious ‘Gajar Ka Hal-
wa’ to trendy coats,
jackets and scarves;
every winter asset will
become tasteless.
Here we remind you
about some winter ex-
clusive things that you
should not let slip this
season.
Having delicious
warm delicacies: As the
winter comes, it brings
you cups and bowls
filled with delicious
recipes like Hot Choc-
olate, Gajar ka Halwa
and Palak Paneer. No
one wants to miss out on
such mouths watering
edibles, but because of
our busy schedule, we
may miss on enjoying
such recipes.
Bonfire: Winters and
bonfireisthebestcombo
youwillevercomeacross
to. Surrounded by your
lovedonesunderanopen
sky with some soothing
music is the best feeling
ever. Adding up to this,
somewinterspecialdish-
esisabsolutelycherryon
the cake!
Coats, Jackets and
Scarves: ‘Winters with-
out fashion are winters
not lived’. Layering
those Coats, matching
up your Jackets with
shoes; perhaps winters
are the best season for
all the fashion enthusi-
asts. NightDrives:Emp-
ty roads, friends and
‘YunhiChalaChalRahi’
with no decided destina-
tion is itself a mood.
With you enjoying your
best company and your
favourite playlist night
drives are the blessings
from winter. Get out of
your blanket and go on a
Long night drive before
these never-ending cold
nights vanish.
Enjoyingwintersintotality!
Enjoyingwintersintotality!
T
A
rt is the language
of the soul, which
has carved our
most profound in-
tended emotions and de-
siredconceptsintoabeauti-
ful hieroglyph work of im-
agination with the touch of
magic.
On the occasion of 73rd Re-
public Day various artists
across the country paid
homage to the immortal
martyrsof ourcountryand
farmers through their art.
SAND ART
Sand artist Ajay Rawat
sculpted a colourful sand
art at Ganpati Ground,
Jaipur on the theme of Jai
JawanJaiKisanJaiVigyan
and showed the elixir of
independence prominently
through his sand art.
SCULPTOR ART
Sculptor Artist Mahavir
Bharti from Bharti Shilp
Kala Studio, Jaipur sculpt-
ed a life-size statue of mar-
tyr CDS Bipin Rawat, the
head of the army of our
countrytopaytributetothe
legend on the occasion of
Republic day
.
KALA KUMBH
Huge paintings depicting
the stories of unsung he-
roes of India’s freedom
movement will be exhib-
ited in the national capi-
tal. More than 500 artists
have done the research
and prepared these
paintings scrolls. The
Government of India or-
ganised the Kala Kumbh-
Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav
to celebrate the 75 years of
India’s independence and
its culture.
OIL PAINTING
Artist Chandra Prakash
Gupta made portraits of
martyrs and gifted them
as token of respect to
their families. Gupta has
made more than 300 por-
traits of martyrs. He was
honoured by the govern-
ment in 2001.
SHADES OF PATRIOTISM!
UTTKARSHA SHEKHAR
uttkarsha.shekhar@firstindia.co.in
Art is more than just an aesthetic creation. It’s a
passion, movement and the beautiful thing that
happens when we build a strong connection.
Chandra Prakash Gupta painting Rohitash Lamba
Artwork of Mahavir Bharti
The stories of unsung heroes
Artwork of Ajay Rawat
—PHOTOS
BY
MUKESH
KIRADOO
elebrity design-
er Bani Pasri-
cha recently
completed 10
years into cele-
brating fashion
in the industry. Follow-
ing the unconventional
path, she has paved a
different way for her-
self on the global front.
And to celebrate these
10 glorious years of
success, she launched
her collection THE
PHARAOH'S, based
on the Egyptian mon-
archs recently. The
concept is based on
empowered women
rulers like Nefertiti
and Cleopatra from
Egyptian monarchs
times when powerful
women uplifted society
for the better and great-
er cause. It was easier
for women of great po-
tential to be in power
during that era. The
entire collection was
seen in royal colours
like hues of black,
white, gold and tur-
quoise with a few piec-
es that have been
hand-painted by the
designer herself.
Her brand's selec-
tive custom pieces
have been adorned
by Bollywood cel-
ebs like Raveena
Tandon, Guru
Randhawa and
Esha Gupta, for the
cover shoot of ce-
lebrity and lifestyle
based magazine FA-
BLOOK.
GLORIOUSYEARS
SUCCESS!
OF
GLORIOUSYEARS
GLORIOUSYEARS
SUCCESS!
SUCCESS!
SUCCESS!
SUCCESS!
SUCCESS!
SUCCESS!
MITRA
cityfirstdel@gmail.com
PARTH
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
C
Bani Pasricha
WEDDING BELLS!
LASER LIGHT SHOW!
With the blessings of their friends and
family, Mouni Roy and Suraj Nambiar
tied the knot at their wedding
ceremony on Thursday. Mouni Roy
shared a priceless picture of feeling
blessed, on Instagram and expressed
her love for marrying her best friend I
found him at last.
A beautiful laser light
and drone show was
held on the evening
of Republic Day at
Rajpath Vijay Chowk in
New Delhi. —PHOTO BY
SHAZID CHAUHAN
Jagdeesh Chandra unfurling the Tricolour at the First India
News channel office on Republic Day. Also seen are Senior
Editor Sudhanshu Mathur, Anita Hada. Jinendra Shekhawat,
Nitesh Singh Goyal, Mukesh Sharma and Dinesh Mathur.

28012022 first india ahmedabad

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